Former Penn State linebacker Sean Lee's path to the NFL provides hope for his good friend Michael Mauti

Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett looked ahead at rows of reporters, stressing his optimism about his game-changing linebacker. He brushed off questions about the player's durability, saying that it isn't a lingering concern.

Penn State linebacker Sean Lee shakes hands with the student section following the 31-20 win over Indiana at Beaver Stadium.JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News

In Dallas' new look, 4-3 defense, former Penn State linebacker Sean Lee will get the first crack at locking down the middle linebacker job. Lee is coming off a season cut short due to injury, just another bump in a career that was filled with questions about his durability.

First it was the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his right knee months before his senior football season was slated to begin. A blow to the Nittany Lions and to Lee's professional aspirations, he took a medical redshirt before returning to play his final season. That injury forced Lee to slip into the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft where the Cowboys selected him with the 55th overall pick.

Since entering the league, Lee's done his part to shed the injury stigma. He's become one of Dallas' young stars and is making many teams wish they would've rolled the dice and selected him before late in the second round. But the questions started to creep up again last season when Lee landed on the season-ending injured reserve in October after tearing the ligaments and plantar plate in his right big toe.

“It's all about being yourself. That's what got you to this point,” Mauti said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “There's no need to change it now and try and be somebody else. The medical evaluation, that's going to be what it is, you can't really change that.”

The two players are cut from the same mold. Breathing heavily into the microphone up front of the room at a podium, Mauti's intensity oozes out. His long, stringy hair paired with hulking biceps make him look every bit the part. Lee's shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes make him less intimidating, that is until the highlight reel comes on.

Both come from strong family backgrounds, one where Lee's grandfather was a Federal judge in Western Pennsylvania and Mauti's dad, Rich, spent six years playing for the New Orleans Saints and one with the Washington Redskins as a receiver and special teams ace.

Penn State linebacker Michael Mauti reacts after recovering a fumble in the fourth quarter of a 17-16 loss to Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News

“He was just kamikaze,” Mauti recalled of his dad's playing days. “He'd fly down on special teams and throw his body into people. That kind of mindset is where I learned from. He played the game like his hair was on fire. … That's how I thought it was supposed to be.”

Mauti was instrumental in keeping the Lions together in the wake of Joe Paterno's firing and the announcement of the NCAA's sanctions. He was one of the players who stood at the front of the room, counting hands to see whether or not the players voted to accept their bid to play in the TicketCity Bowl.

Once the sanctions came down, Mauti was one of the seniors making phone calls, telling teammates to stay on board. Even after his knee injury, he opted to wait an extra week to have surgery just so he could be on the sidelines with his teammates. Extra rolls of athletic tape helped sure up his knee so he could at least stand and walk around. His teammates responded by wearing his No. 42 on the side of their helmets.

“He's a natural-born leader,” teammate Jordan Hill said. “He's a guy that if you're walking down a dark alley he's the guy that you want to take with you.”

Before heading to last week's NFL Scouting Combine, Mauti called Lee to see what he could expect. The two friends also met up in Dallas last year, days before the Lions finished their season playing in the TicketCity Bowl.

“Me and Sean are close,” Mauti said. “We spent a lot of time together when he was playing and I learned a lot from him about playing football and what kind of leader he was on and off the field.”

Mauti even relied on Lee when it came to selecting an agent, choosing the same man who represents his friend. When it comes to figuring out how to handle the next couple months, ones where Mauti will continue telling position coaches and general managers that he'll be ready by the time NFL training camps open in August, he's optimistic teams will think about what his friend was about to do coming off of a serious knee injury too.

“I think a lot of people understand that I've responded from an injury like this and last year I was coming off an ACL and I had an All-American season,” he said. “I've proven I can do that and this will be no different.”